Who We Are

We are a small family business run by Michael Jobling and his niece, Torie Jackson. Based in the North East but with a national distribution, we began in 1988 with a modest 45 wines and a hopeful list of friends and acquaintances. Michael had previously worked as a management accountant in the motor trade but - either because of or despite this - developed an all-absorbing interest in wines. Throwing caution to the wind, he gave up the day job to concentrate on what he realised he liked best; discovering wines of interest, value and originality. We have now grown our wine stock to a carefully chosen but eclectic list of around 300.

Torie joined the growing business in 1996, having previously worked for the National Trust. She has worked her way through all ‘sectors’ of the company - sales, deliveries, office administration, accounts, sourcing and buying - developing her wine palate under Michael’s tutelage along the way. Today, although the division of work is fairly fluid, Torie is more often to be found in the office and dealing with customers (a role she combines with bringing up three children and a farmer husband) while Michael is more often out on the road, in charge of wine ordering, deliveries, restaurant customers, and talks and tastings. Wine selection is a team effort.

We specialise in finding interesting wines from smaller growers as well as sourcing good value wines from the larger producers. All are wines that we would personally choose to drink. Our focus is private customers throughout mainland Britain as well as quality restaurants within the North East.

Pick up the phone and you can speak to one or other of us. Or we will phone you back if we’re a bit tied up when you call. We are happy to offer advice and have few rules which means we can be very flexible and will always try to go that extra mile.

For functions, weddings and parties, we have a well-trained team of support staff. We can also help with sourcing caterers, entertainers and other professionals, from jazz bands to firework artists, marquee suppliers to magicians.